Teaching from 10 am to 10 pm today, basically without any real break

Two hours of German at the home of a student who runs a marketing business. I take the tram there. 

A Dutch lesson in a bistro called Otto, not too far from my office, because the student prefers to have the lesson in a coffee place. Fine guy. Noisy place.

A Dutch lesson with a young man in my office/apartment in the city center. This guy has the greatest sense of humor.

An English lesson with a photographer who comes over to my place. 

An online Dutch lesson with a Czech lady in the Netherlands. 

An online Dutch lesson with a Slovak lady who lives close, but prefers online lessons. 

An online English lesson with a student whose husband is not entirely comfortable with her meeting me for whatever reason and therefore the lessons are online. 

All of these people have different levels, different learning styles, different things they like to do during our lessons, different topics they want to discuss and different attitudes towards me. Some are interested in who I am, ask me personal questions and we can have deep discussions about life, the world and our own personal experience and to some am just a language teaching robot, they don’t care about me as a person at all and are unable to engage on a deeper level. I suspect they are unable to do so, not just with me, but in general. You can immediately spot the difference between these two categories. You can guess which ones I prefer. I adapt as best as I can to both categories. It’s not the switching between so many different languages that is exhausting, it’s switching between so many different vibes, attitudes and expectations. Also all the moving between places is tiresome and requires a lot of discipline and planning. 

It’s the ones who are able to have a real conversation with me that pull me through a seemingly endless day like this. 

If I don’t say it enough: thank you, thank you, thank you. 

Also: how strange it is to function and go through what seems like a normal day while inside of me the world has come to an end and everything is just stab wounds, stab wounds, stab wounds. No kidding. And all because of a woman.